. >> reporter: but uc berkeley professor and the director of the school's energy institute, severin borenstein, says it's not a rate increase and the amount the average bill will go up is a lot less than $24. >> for the average customer, it who the not on the low income program, it's going to be an increase of about $3 per month. >> reporter: borenstein says this fee won't be going towards one thing, but many. >> paying for things like the extra investments we need to make to underground lines. and to insulate lines. and to put on the fast trip technology that will shut off a power line as soon as it has a fault. so it doesn't start a wildfire. >> reporter: it can also be used for research and development of new technologies. plaisted says in general, a flat fee is a way of encouraging people to use more kilowatts of electricity. like by purchasing electric vehicles or an induction cook top as opposed to using fossil fuels. >> we used to actually encourage conservation by giving discounts for lower energy use. we're flipping that on its head and now saying we're going to give you a discount fo